Many years ago I attended a leadership conference for the health and wellness industry.  I was the Fitness Director at a health club and we were seeing some low ratings from our members who were feeling ignored, had negative interactions with staff or felt their concerns were not being handled appropriately.  My boss sent me to the conference with instructions to come away with enough information to develop a new customer service training program to be administered to our staff members and new hires.  Changes needed to happen in our facility or we were going to begin to lose members.  So, I headed to Chicago for the conference.

Once I was signed in I headed to the hotel so I could prepare for the upcoming five days of learning and exploring all there was to know about running a successful health and wellness center.  I carefully scanned the conference schedule and diligently marked off all of the sessions I was to attend in order fill my brain with the knowledge to develop our fancy new customer service training program.  Change needed to happen at our facility and I was absolutely going to single-handedly make it happen.  In a nutshell, here is what I learned:
1. A dissatisfied customer will tell between 9-15 people about their experience while happy customers who get their issue resolved tell about 4-6 people about their experience.

2. It takes 12 positive experiences to make up for one negative experience.

3. For every customer complaint there are 26 other unhappy customers who have remained silent.

4.  …

I actually could go on and on with a list of what I learned, but let’s not waste time.  I really want to focus on the second point I listed about.  It takes 12 positive experiences to make up for one negative experience, which brings me to the point of this article: Greek life positive experiences vs. negative experiences.

We have all watched the news stories and read the articles about the hazing issues, alcohol abuse and sexual assault problems that seem to plague Sororities and Fraternities.  These articles paint a horrifying picture of what your children will deal with should they decide to become a member of one of these organizations.  I would say most people in America no matter what their age have either heard of or watched the movie “Animal House”.  I, myself, have watched it several times and can recite dialogue word for word in certain parts of the movie.  The pledge scene comes to mind!  We watch the movie laughing at its absurdity and chuckle at the situational comedy that arises from the characters consuming tremendous amounts of alcohol.  Although we know the insane amount of mayhem the Delta Tau Chi fraternity created at the fictional Faber College is a bit far-fetched, what we see reported in the news today seems to give some validity to this type of Greek life.  Here’s the problem.  With every negative situation that happens involving a sorority or fraternity there are at least twelve positive aspects of Greek life the members of these organizations are taking part in.  So, without further ado, here are twelve positive aspects of Greek life from around the country that need to be moved to the forefront and recognized.  (Side note: Please understand I am in no way downplaying the problems faced in some of these organizations, but merely pointing out they do contribute in a positive manner to society).  In addition to the below facts listed below, you can view the full list of 50 Best Colleges for Greek Life here.

1. Villanova University “has a strong focus on philanthropic endeavors. Fraternities and sororities raised over $178,000, collected 650 articles of clothing, 4,600 pounds of canned food, donated 200 pints of blood, and completed over 24,000 hours of service for various causes in 2012. In 2014, the total fundraised amount was $425,000. In addition to these generous donations, Greeks at Villanova maintained a 3.36 GPA.”

2. At Bucknell University, “the Panhellenic Council committed to the national No More Campaign, donning T-shirts and raising awareness to end sexual violence and assault. The IFC, Panhellenic, and Kappa Delta Rho held a 5K Obstacle Course Run and raised over $12,000 for the B+ Foundation to fight childhood cancer. In 2013, Greek organizations raised over $13,000 in the Million Penny Project for recreation programs in Lewisburg.”

3. At the University of North Carolina-Wilmington “for the 2014 academic year, UNCW fraternities and sororities donated over 25,500 hours of community service and raised over $75,000 for philanthropic groups.”

4. Northwestern University: “One campus initiate is the Dance Marathon. Now in its 42nd year, Northwestern University Dance Marathon (NUDM) is one of the largest and most well established student-run philanthropies in the nation. Since its founding in 1975, Northwestern students have raised over $16 million in support of over 30 different beneficiaries, annually raising over $1 million for each of the last five years.”

5. Dartmouth College: “The Philanthropic All American Rush (P.A.A.R) is a unique Greek experience that consists in a competition between Greek organizations in order to fundraise for the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth. In 2014, Greek chapters raised $108,769 for the Norris Cotton Cancer Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Hospital, and through P.A.A.R., raised $34,249, which was doubled by Positive Tracks, to make a total donation of $68,498 to the Children’s Hospital at Dartmouth.”

6. Millsaps College: “The Millsaps Panhellenic Council was lauded for its work with Operation Cinderella Story, a dress drive for the Midtown Community Development Center and students from Rowan Middle, as well as partnering with Stop Hunger Now to pack food boxes for 6,000 people, making 372 bookmarks for the literacy program at Brown Elementary School in the Midtown neighborhood in Jackson, and for implementing new educational programs to address alcohol poisoning, eating disorders, hazing and bullying.”

7. The motto at Wofford College is “shines with untarnished honor.” Greek life is an essential part of Wofford with 13 chapters and 49 percent of students involved. Notable past philanthropy includes one chapter that raised $34,000 for St. Jude Children’s Hospital, serving people with disabilities through Push America, construction projects, and more.

8. At the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater “a Turtle Race, a 5K Run/Walk with all proceeds going to the Painted Turtle Camp in Lake Hughes, CA (a non-profit organization that invites children who have chronic and terminal illnesses to enjoy a camp experience for a week, completely free)” that takes place in the fall semester.  They also hold “Hoops for Hearing, an event that raises money for Speech and Hearing, a national philanthropy.”

9. At DePauw University, “the local sorority, Psi Lambda Xi, is a good example of the kind of philanthropy you can expect from the Greeks at DePauw: A Karnival for Kids and Toy Drive for Riley Children’s Hospital raised money, toys, and school supplies that went directly to local children.”

10. At Westminster College, the fraternities and sororities raised more than $19,000 in money, and the Student Government Association (SGA) collected nearly 5,000 food, clothing, toys, and other items during Greek Week 2013. In 2014, the charters raised $11,656 for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

11. At Albion College the All-Greek average GPA is 3.31. “When it comes to philanthropy, Albion provides many opportunities to serve – the fight against domestic violence, called “Go Purple Week,” or various fundraisers to help support the Special Olympics are a couple of examples.”

12. At Centre College, Greeks help support the United Way, Salvation Army, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, mentor at-risk local school children, and sponsor city-wide canned-food drives. Centre Greeks recorded more than 9,000 service hours last year, raised more than $66,000 for charitable organizations, and Centre Greek students received more than $12,000 in national awards.

It is my hope that these twelve positives of Greek life around the country will shed a more positive light upon these organizations. The lists of Greek life good deeds, philanthropic efforts, community service efforts and the like at colleges and universities across the country are seemingly endless with just a little bit of research.  The reported issues of alcohol and hazing related deaths and sexual abuse on college campuses over the past few years has forced these institutions to take tough actions, take a hard look at the actions within the organizations and begin to rebuild Greek life on campus for the greater good.  It has also caused fraternities and sororities to hold their members to higher standards and accountability within the organizations.  These students are doing a tremendous amount of good for the communities surrounding the college or university they attend bringing to light and forefront the remarkable young adults they truly are.  With that, let us congratulate these organizations and their members and continue to support them throughout their collegiate career and beyond.